The following is from Bryan County Sheriff’s reports:
Eluding police
May 17 – An Ellabell woman was arrested for fleeing and attempting to elude police after she gave chase to sheriff’s deputies, speeding down Black Creek Church Road in Ellabell. Deputy Matthew Lynn and Cpl. Robert Crapse were able to stop the woman’s Nissan Altima shortly after it made an aggressive turn onto Wade Carter Road. Lynn approached the vehicle and ordered the woman to show her hands. When asked why she didn’t stop, the woman replied, “I don’t have to stop for the police.”
Vandalism
May 22 – Deputies responded to a damaged property call at a Peregrine Circle home in Richmond Hill. There, Deputy Gregory Atwood found “son of a (expletive) why did you rip it down” and a sad face drawn on the driveway. Atwood said the graffiti appeared to have been written in blueberries.
Theft by taking
May 22 – Deputies responded to a Homestead Drive home in Ellabell, where the resident said his 2001 Ford F-150 had been taken sometime during the previous night. The man said he had left the keys in the truck and also a utility trailer attached. The offenders left the trailer behind, and evidence indicated the truck was driven toward Countryside Road. Deputies searched the neighborhood for the truck, but it was when they were traveling on Tar City Road near the Cuyler Hunting Clubhouse that they noticed a white Ford truck parked in the woods. The license plate number confirmed the truck belonged to the complainant. Evidence at the road indicated the truck had been in the ditch and was removed by a second vehicle. And though several shoe impressions were left at the scene, none were usable for identification purposes. Witnesses at the scene that morning claimed to see a black male walking on Tar City Road about a mile from where the truck was found. Shoe tracks along the road appeared to match those found near the truck, but there was no other information to lead to a suspect.
Vehicle fire
May 26 – Deputies responded to mile marker 143 on I-16 to find a 1999 Chevy Cavalier ablaze. When fire fighters arrived the car was fully engulfed in flames, but the department was able to put out the fire. The car belonged to a woman from Brunswick.
Larceny
May 26 – A man was leaving his Steelwood Drive home in Richmond Hill in the morning and found his wife’s Hummer in the driveway with the front passenger window broken and her purse missing from the front passenger seat. The window had a hole in it, and the suspects had reached in and took the purse without opening the door.
Criminal damage to property
May 28 – Deputies were dispatched to an Ellabell home on Manton Drive, where someone had driven a truck into the yard and struck a tree – damaging both the truck and the tree. The man who ran his truck into the tree – and appeared intoxicated to the responding officer – was the same man who called police and lived at the Manton Drive residence. He told deputies that while he was eating at a restaurant he realized his wife had stolen his credit card from his wallet. He said he was so angry that he came home and drove into the tree “several times” with his 2007 Chevy Silverado, causing extensive damage and the airbag to deploy. The man asked Deputy David Ellis what he was going to do about it, and Ellis responded, “There is no law against driving your own vehicle into your own trees.” When Ellis said he could not take the wife to jail for stealing the credit card, the man asked for her to be removed from the home. However, Ellis explained why that could not be done immediately and told both the man and his wife the legal action required to have either party removed from the property.
DUI
May 30 – A Hinesville man was arrested for his third DUI after getting pulled by deputies for nearly running into an orange traffic barrel. While traveling south on Hwy. 17, Deputy J. Graham watched a vehicle cross the center line several times as they approached Hope Creek Drive. The vehicle was in the right lane heading toward a large, flashing state Department of Transportation sign telling drivers to move to the left lane due to road construction. Instead of merging into the left lane, the vehicle passed over the black rubber bases of orange barrels that had previously been knocked over before jerking into the left lane just before hitting the next barrel in line. When the vehicle stopped, Graham allegedly noticed the smell of alcohol on the driver, and the man admitted to having two beers about two hours prior to the stop. The man tested positive for the presence of alcohol. When his driver’s license was run through the system it came back as canceled due to two active DUI suspensions from 2008.
Eluding police
May 17 – An Ellabell woman was arrested for fleeing and attempting to elude police after she gave chase to sheriff’s deputies, speeding down Black Creek Church Road in Ellabell. Deputy Matthew Lynn and Cpl. Robert Crapse were able to stop the woman’s Nissan Altima shortly after it made an aggressive turn onto Wade Carter Road. Lynn approached the vehicle and ordered the woman to show her hands. When asked why she didn’t stop, the woman replied, “I don’t have to stop for the police.”
Vandalism
May 22 – Deputies responded to a damaged property call at a Peregrine Circle home in Richmond Hill. There, Deputy Gregory Atwood found “son of a (expletive) why did you rip it down” and a sad face drawn on the driveway. Atwood said the graffiti appeared to have been written in blueberries.
Theft by taking
May 22 – Deputies responded to a Homestead Drive home in Ellabell, where the resident said his 2001 Ford F-150 had been taken sometime during the previous night. The man said he had left the keys in the truck and also a utility trailer attached. The offenders left the trailer behind, and evidence indicated the truck was driven toward Countryside Road. Deputies searched the neighborhood for the truck, but it was when they were traveling on Tar City Road near the Cuyler Hunting Clubhouse that they noticed a white Ford truck parked in the woods. The license plate number confirmed the truck belonged to the complainant. Evidence at the road indicated the truck had been in the ditch and was removed by a second vehicle. And though several shoe impressions were left at the scene, none were usable for identification purposes. Witnesses at the scene that morning claimed to see a black male walking on Tar City Road about a mile from where the truck was found. Shoe tracks along the road appeared to match those found near the truck, but there was no other information to lead to a suspect.
Vehicle fire
May 26 – Deputies responded to mile marker 143 on I-16 to find a 1999 Chevy Cavalier ablaze. When fire fighters arrived the car was fully engulfed in flames, but the department was able to put out the fire. The car belonged to a woman from Brunswick.
Larceny
May 26 – A man was leaving his Steelwood Drive home in Richmond Hill in the morning and found his wife’s Hummer in the driveway with the front passenger window broken and her purse missing from the front passenger seat. The window had a hole in it, and the suspects had reached in and took the purse without opening the door.
Criminal damage to property
May 28 – Deputies were dispatched to an Ellabell home on Manton Drive, where someone had driven a truck into the yard and struck a tree – damaging both the truck and the tree. The man who ran his truck into the tree – and appeared intoxicated to the responding officer – was the same man who called police and lived at the Manton Drive residence. He told deputies that while he was eating at a restaurant he realized his wife had stolen his credit card from his wallet. He said he was so angry that he came home and drove into the tree “several times” with his 2007 Chevy Silverado, causing extensive damage and the airbag to deploy. The man asked Deputy David Ellis what he was going to do about it, and Ellis responded, “There is no law against driving your own vehicle into your own trees.” When Ellis said he could not take the wife to jail for stealing the credit card, the man asked for her to be removed from the home. However, Ellis explained why that could not be done immediately and told both the man and his wife the legal action required to have either party removed from the property.
DUI
May 30 – A Hinesville man was arrested for his third DUI after getting pulled by deputies for nearly running into an orange traffic barrel. While traveling south on Hwy. 17, Deputy J. Graham watched a vehicle cross the center line several times as they approached Hope Creek Drive. The vehicle was in the right lane heading toward a large, flashing state Department of Transportation sign telling drivers to move to the left lane due to road construction. Instead of merging into the left lane, the vehicle passed over the black rubber bases of orange barrels that had previously been knocked over before jerking into the left lane just before hitting the next barrel in line. When the vehicle stopped, Graham allegedly noticed the smell of alcohol on the driver, and the man admitted to having two beers about two hours prior to the stop. The man tested positive for the presence of alcohol. When his driver’s license was run through the system it came back as canceled due to two active DUI suspensions from 2008.